


I Forgive You

by FriendOfTheGhost



Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-12-01
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:14:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27171601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FriendOfTheGhost/pseuds/FriendOfTheGhost
Summary: An accident occurs on the Stan O' War II, and the remaining Stan twin doesn't know wat to do in the aftermath.
Relationships: Dipper Pines & Ford Pines, Dipper Pines & Mabel Pines, Ford Pines & Mabel Pines, Ford Pines & Stan Pines
Comments: 8
Kudos: 28





	1. Squid

It was a dark and stormy night…

Quite literally.

The deck shifted under Ford’s feet, and he landed hard on his hands and knees. Heavy rain, half frozen, pelted his back and shoulders. He was freezing, miserable, and--

A loud  _ SCREEEEEE _ cut through the air.

Oh yeah. And he and Stan were fighting a giant squid.

“Get up, Sixer!” Stan hollered, pulling Ford to his feet. “If we can get this thing to grab the gas can, I’ll light it!”

“With  _ what?” _ Ford demanded. “It’s pouring buckets!”

With a gleeful grin, Stan held up a few flares.

“...That’ll work.”

The twins separated, and Ford scooped up the gasoline canister, and started waving his hands, trying to get the attention of the squid. “Hey ugly!”

_ SCREE? _

“Catch!” Ford tossed the gas canister at the squid, who expertly caught it.

Unfortunately for the squid, that’s exactly what the twins wanted.

“NOW, STAN!”

Stan lit the flare, and ran towards the stream of gasoline slowly spilling out of the can. Almost in slow motion, the gas lit on fire, and Ford watched the fire travel up and into the gas canister. The can exploded, and sections of a few squid arms (not to mention a sad amount of the boat railing) were destroyed as a result.

The squid emitted an ear-splitting shriek, and flailed its arms around in pain.

“Ha! Take that, you slimy sucker!” Stan taunted.

The squid seemed to zero in on Stan, and too late, Ford realized what was going to happen.

“Stanley, get down!” he yelled, right as a squid arm hit Stan in the stomach, sending him hurtling into the ocean.

For half a second, although it  _ felt _ longer, Ford froze, feeling like he was the one who had been hit in the gut. Then, before he knew what he was doing, he stumbled to the edge of the deck and looked out over the raging sea.

“STANLEY!” Ford screamed. He searched for his brother on the open waves, terrified that he had lost his brother forever, when he saw a flash of yellow: Stan’s life vest.

Without hesitating, Ford jumped into the ocean and swam after his brother, calling his name out every few seconds. In the worst luck, he lost his glasses to the raging ocean. His joints were stiffening up more and more the longer he stayed out in the water. Even though he was wearing a life vest, the waves threatened to pull him under, and the water in his eyes made it nearly impossible to keep track of his brother. So it was no small miracle when he got to Stan.

“Stan!” Ford shouted. He grabbed his brother and turned him around, only to find that Stan was unconscious. 

“You’re not allowed to give up on me,” Ford rasped. He pulled Stan back to the  _ Stan O’ War II _ and collapsed once they were both back on deck. By then, the rain had begun to let up, no longer feeling like bullets hitting Ford’s face, instead more like a light mist. He was exhausted, and sore, and felt like closing his eyes for just a moment...

_Get up, get up, get_ **_up!_** Ford thought. He couldn’t give up on Stan. Ignoring his screaming muscles, he pushed himself up to kneeling, and reached over to check Stan’s pulse. It was there, barely.

He removed Stan’s life vest, and gently felt his brother’s chest to check for damage. His heart dropped when he realized that Stan had broken several ribs, and that he wasn’t breathing. 

“No, no, no,  _ no…” _ Immediately, Ford began CPR, cursing his brother out the entire time. “You idiot. You  _ fucking _ idiot!” Breath. Pause. Breath. “You’re not allowed to leave. You aren’t allowed to  _ fucking leave me _ on this  _ godforsaken boat! _ ” Breath. Pause. Breath. “You just  _ had _ to taunt that  _ fucking squid!  _ You  _ bastard! _ ” Breath. Pause. Breath. “You CANNOT leave me! You can’t! You can’t...” 

Breath… 

“You...no. Please…” Ford collapsed on top of his brother’s chest, sobbing. “Stan, please…” he checked his brother's pulse. Gone.

"No...Stanley…"

**Three weeks later**

Showing back up in Gravity Falls was… well, in a word, painful. A few times, Ford actually considered just moving to some remote city and disappearing.

But Mabel and Dipper...deserved to know. And they deserved to know from him.

Even before he had parked the car outside the Mystery Shack, he heard Mabel excitedly talking to someone inside. Possibly Waddles.

The twins were teenagers now. Seniors in high school. Dipper was almost as tall as Ford now, and Mabel just a few inches shorter.

He stepped out of the car and walked up to the front door of the Shack. Before he could even knock, Mabel flung the door open and wrapped Ford in a tight hug.

"Grunkle Ford! I missed you so much!" She exclaimed. "I have so much to tell you! I have a boyfriend, and I made you and Grunkle Stan new sweaters, and--"

"Ok, ok, let the man breathe," Dipper said, smiling, as he gently pried Mabel away. "It's good to see you, Grunkle Ford," he added.

Ford smiled slightly, but his chest felt tight and tears were beginning to form.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Dipper asked.

"Where's Grunkle Stan?" Mabel asked. "He's gonna love his sweater! It has a fish on it!"

"Kids, can we go to the kitchen?" Ford asked quietly. 

The twins nodded, and Ford followed then into the house.

Once the kids were sat down at the table, Ford took a deep breath.

"Ford, what's going on?" Dipper asked.

Ford put his hands on his pockets and balled them into fists to stop them from shaking. "Kids...when your Grunkle Stan and I were out at sea...there was an accident. It was stormy, and the ship was being attacked, and Stan…" his voice cracked. "Stan didn't make it. He's gone."

"...what?" Mabel gasped. Dipper just stared at Ford with blank eyes.

"I am so sorry. I tried to save him but--"

"Grunkle Stan's  _ gone _ ?" Mabel cried. 

Ford, not trusting himself to be able to speak anymore, stepped forward and pulled Mabel into a hug, and she began to sob into his shoulder.

Dipper continued staring into space, and after a couple seconds, Wendy wandered into the room. 

"Hey guys, do we still have any lemonade--whaaaat happened here?"

Dipper mumbled something and stumbled out of the room. Ford heard the front door close a little while afterwards.

"Whoa, did someone die or something?" Wendy asked, laughing nervously. 

"Grunkle Stan is gone!" Mabel said, voice slightly muffled by Ford's shirt. 

"What?" Wendy looked to Ford. He nodded, feeling tears of his own starting to spill down his cheeks. 

"Oh...I am so sorry." She lingered in the doorway before backing up slightly. "I'm...I'm gonna go tell Soos," she decided, leaving Ford and Mabel alone.

After a few minutes, Mabel's sobs died down, and she stepped back, wiping her face with her sleeve. 

"What are we gonna do?" she asked. 

Ford paused, searching for the right words. "We...are gonna do our best to keep going. Talk to me if you need anything, ok Pumpkin?"

Mabel nodded, sniffling. "Are you gonna be ok?"

Ford took a deep breath. "I don't know. I hope so."

"Ok." Mabel looked around the kitchen. "Where'd Dipper go?"

"I don't know. I'm going to go find him, ok?"

"I'll help you. I know all his hiding spots." 

Ford nodded, and the pair of them set out in search of Dipper.

After half an hour of searching, Ford found Dipper in the woods behind the Shack. He was sitting on a rock, his back to Ford.

"Hey kiddo," Ford said softly. "Had me worried there."

"Sorry," Dipper mumbled, standing up. When he turned around, his eyes were red and slightly puffy.

"Dipper, if you ever need someone to talk to--"

"I'm fine." Without making eye contact, Dipper walked past Ford and made his way back towards the house.

Ford was left alone, wondering if he had done something wrong.


	2. Deleted/edited scene

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this was the original ending for the end of chapter 1. I cut it short because I just....didn't really know what else to do? So this hurts a bit more but it made less sense for the story I had.

“No, no, no,  _ no…” _ Immediately, Ford began CPR, cursing his brother out the entire time. “You idiot. You  _ fucking _ idiot!” Breath. Pause. Breath. “You’re not allowed to leave. You aren’t allowed to  _ fucking leave me _ on this  _ godforsaken boat! _ ” Breath. Pause. Breath. “You just  _ had _ to taunt that  _ fucking squid!  _ You  _ bastard! _ ” Breath. Pause. Breath. “You CANNOT leave me! You can’t! You can’t...” 

Breath… 

“You...no. Please…” Ford collapsed on top of his brother’s chest, sobbing. “Stan, please! I’m so sorry.”

Stan scared the shit out of Ford by coughing--well, puking-- water onto the deck.

“Holy shit…” Ford rolled Stan onto his side so he didn’t choke. “Stanley, can you hear me?”

A vague groan was the only response.

“Ok...ok, let’s get you inside, let’s get you warm.” Ford helped his brother stand up, and together they staggered into the ship’s cabin. Stan’s lips were still worryingly blue.

Stan brought a hand to his chest after one particularly rough step. “Hurts...Ford, stop.”

“Just a bit farther--”

“Ford,  _ please! _ ”*

That one word startled Ford so much that he froze and looked at his brother. Stanley’s face was scrunched up in pain, and his breathing was ragged.

Carefully, gently, Ford eased his brother to the ground and leaned him back against the wall. Stan closed his eyes and appeared to be focused on breathing. For a long time, the pair just sat there, silent.

Stan finally broke the silence. “Ford...tell the twins--”

.................

“No. Don’t you dare, Stanley.”  Ford glared at him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *this is the one thing I wish I could have kept, cause Stan saying please is just...unheard of. It would have made me a bit more sad to see him in that state but I had to scrap it.


	3. Chapter 3

Later that night, Ford ventured down to the hidden lab under the Mystery Shack. A lot of memories existed down there. Days when he worked with Fiddleford. The night that Stan came back and Ford went through the portal, and the night he came back.

This place is dangerous, he thought, almost without meaning to. Ford’s friend, his brother, his niece and nephew--hell, the whole town!--had all faced harm because of the things Ford had decided to build down in the lab.

“...So I’ll destroy it,” he said aloud. 

_No! All your research!_

Ford gripped the edge of a machine, as if bracing himself for an attack. “My research has gotten people killed!” he growled.

_But we don’t...have to destroy it? We could just hide it!_

“We have hidden it before. Dipper found it, and look at where that landed us.”

_You came back. Stan got you back._

Ford paused. “...I wouldn’t count that as a positive.”

“You wouldn’t count what as a positive?” someone asked from somewhere off to Ford’s left.

Ford jumped violently, and his hand went to the gun at his waist, before he realized that it was Mabel. She had her hands up in defense, and Ford sighed, relaxing somewhat.

“What are you doing down here?” he asked.

“Dipper told me to tell you that dinner’s done,” Mabel replied, kind of quietly. “Soos made sandwiches.”

Ford nodded slightly, still coming down from being startled. “I’ll be up there in a few minutes.”

“But then your sandwich will get cold.”

“What sort of sandwich is warm in the first place?”

“...Grilled cheese.”

Ford frowned, slightly embarrassed. “Oh. I’ll be up sooner then.”

Mabel smiled, and rushed forward to give Ford a hug. He flinched, not expecting the sudden movement, but Mabel didn’t seem to notice.

When she pulled back, she was grinning, so Ford forced himself to smile back. “Alright, we don’t want to keep Soos and Dipper waiting,” he said, starting to walk towards the elevator. Mabel wasn’t far behind. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kind of a small chapter, I'm working on a bunch of stuff rn so I'm sorry about the spotty updates


End file.
